Bay Area city goes from most per-capita murders to 0 homicides in 2023

EAST PALO ALTO, Calif. (KRON) – The City of East Palo Alto is celebrating a major milestone. It’s reporting zero homicides for the first time since its incorporation into San Mateo County.

It is progress that has been decades in the making.

East Palo Alto became one of America’s youngest cities when it was incorporated into San Mateo County in 1983, but its bright future turned dark a decade later when the crack epidemic turned the city into the nation’s leader in per capita murders.

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Forty-two people were killed in 1992 when its population was just 24,000. In 2023, homicides dropped to zero. This news is a relief for people who grew up here.

“Words can’t describe how emotional it is for me,” said Antonio Lopez, who became the city’s mayor three weeks ago.

He was born and raised in East Palo Alto after his family came from Mexico in the 1980s. Lopez recalls just how dangerous it was growing up.

“My father would always talk about putting the blinds down, the drugs, the violence, the gangs,” he said.

As Lopez went on to get his college education, crime slowly went down at home. While he was on the city council, the city reported five homicides in 2022.

He attributes the strength of the community and the city’s investment in public safety to what helped get that number down.

“Not only did we install cameras in our parks, increase our rate for officers, we also collaborated with the churches. We have a ton in East Palo Alto that do amazing civic work,” he said. “We are a city that is cash-strapped. We understand that safety is the most important thing. We understand that if our families aren’t feeling safe then we aren’t doing our job as a city.”

While Lopez is excited about this milestone, he says there is still work to be done.

“Housing, education, parks, but I also think it’s so important that viewers of the Bay look to us as an example of some hope moving towards the year,” he said.

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